By BWilliams / 00:57, 4 August 2004 / Reviews - Products

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - THE JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION
DVD

Price: $19
Pub Date: August 2004

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When STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION premiered in September 1987, it not only launched the television revival of STAR TREK, begetting two spin-off series, four feature films, and a prequel series, it also brought to the public eye the acting skills of Patrick Stewart. Stewart had largely been known as a Shakespearean stage actor in the 1960’s and 1970’s, appearing in many stage productions in England before moving to Hollywood and securing work in television and film projects. Science fiction and fantasy fans first took notice of Stewart in the King Arthur retelling EXCALIBUR, then in 1984 with his portrayal of Gurney Hallack in David Lynch’s film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel DUNE. But it was a UCLA reading in 1986 that caught the eye of Robert H. Justman and set Stewart on the road to worldwide acclaim as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. With his crisp, rich, commanding voice, Stewart exemplified the best qualities that emerged out of Picard.

Over the course of the series’ seven-year run and the four feature films, we saw many facets of Picard that fleshed out his character. A vintner’s son with a penchant for athletics, rebellion, mystery novels, and getting into one scrape after another with his older brother or with a group of nasty Nausicaans, Picard initially flunked out of Starfleet Academy’s entrance exam. But on the second go-around he made it into the Academy against the wishes of his father, becoming not only a top athlete but also a top command prospect with an instinct for taking risks. Eventually that youthful risk-taking nearly cost Picard his life, but it helped mature him into a seasoned diplomat and noted Federation starship captain. Whether at the helm of a small rust-bucket schooner or the latest version of the Federation’s flagship, the Enterprise, Picard proved over and over his loyalty to the Federation, even at the cost of occasionally breaking the Prime Directive. But Picard also had his share of life-changing experiences, from nearly being killed in a barroom brawl during his youth, to surviving a horrifying kidnapping and assault at the hands of the Borg, to experiencing an entire lifetime in a handful of minutes. Through it all we were there with Picard, sympathizing with him at one point, encouraging and cheering him on the next, learning from his examples and his mistakes along the way.

“The Big Goodbye”, for example, revealed a side to Picard that many fans embraced: Picard as a lover of pulp fiction mystery novels. In this episode penned by Tracy Torme’, Picard, Data and Dr. Crusher enter the ship’s holodeck for a 1940’s mystery adventure that becomes all too real. The careful attention to detail, costuming, visual effects, and acting, not to mention the tip of the hat to pulpy dialog, earned THE NEXT GENERATION the George Foster Peabody Award for excellence in television programming, quite an accolade for a then-new television series.

The third-season episode “Sarek” marked the return of Mark Lenard as the legendary Vulcan ambassador Sarek, beginning a carefully built bridge between the Original Series and NEXT GENERATION characters (with the exception of references made in the series’ first two episodes). Assigned to ferry Ambassador Sarek to the conclusion of a decades-long treaty negotiation between the Federation and an alien species, Picard soon learns that Sarek is afflicted with a severe neurological disease and is losing his self-control. This episode marked not only the first mention of Spock on the series (which would be followed up in the fifth-season two-part tale “Unification”), it also revealed Sarek’s long buried feelings for his son, so wonderfully conveyed by Stewart.

After their epic encounter with the Borg in “The Best of Both Worlds”, the Enterprise underwent refits in the fourth season episode “Family”, allowing the NEXT GENERATION cast time to relax and recuperate in many ways. For Picard, it meant going home to France to spend time with his brother Robert, sister-in-law Marie, and nephew Rene’. While other cast members grappled with their own family issues, it was Picard’s inner struggle between remaining on Earth and staying in command of the Enterprise that brought out all of the trauma that had built up over time; trauma from his kidnapping and assault by the Borg, and trauma from being bullied by his older brother, wonderfully played by guest-star Jeremy Kemp. The fight between the Picard brothers in the family vineyard makes for one of the most emotionally intense conflicts ever on the series.

Later in the fourth season, Picard’s trauma at the hands of the Borg would recur as an element in the highly acclaimed episode “The Drumhead”, written by Jeri Taylor and adeptly directed by Jonathan Frakes. Initially conceived as a “clips show”, Frakes wisely steered the story away from that concept and brought forth a much more powerful story of a Starfleet admiral (convincingly played by guest-star Jean Simmons) who is initially assigned to try a Klingon exchange officer for sabotage on the Enterprise’s warp core. Her investigation soon develops into a 24th century witch-hunt, seeking to expose anyone’s buried secrets no matter whether innocent or guilty -- including Picard.

In the early fifth season episode “Darmok”, trapped on a planet with an alien captain (played by Paul Winfield), with no way of understanding his acquaintance or his words, Picard must unlock the secret of his companion’s way of communication before the Enterprise and an alien ship resort to an all-out assault. This wonderful episode explored the importance of metaphor as a means of communication, allowing Picard’s diplomatic skills to shine like never before.

Toward the end of the fifth season Picard would have an encounter of a most unusual kind in “The Inner Light”. Discovering an ancient space probe, Picard soon wakes up and finds himself as a different man on a different planet in a different time. The beauty of this episode is found in the way Picard loses himself in his new identity of Kamin, experiencing the very things that missing in his life -- a wife, children, and a home. The interesting twists come in the episode’s final moments, leaving Picard all the sadder yet a little wiser as a result. “The Inner Light” showcased some of Jay Chattaway’s most beautiful music ever composed for STAR TREK with a haunting flute melody that simultaneously evokes sadness and richness all in one. This episode also marked the first on-screen pairing of Patrick Stewart with his son Daniel.

One of Picard’s most frequent nemeses, Q (John deLancie), repeatedly appeared during the series to wreak havoc on the Enterprise and Picard in particular. Sometimes it was for laughs, but in the sixth season episode “Tapestry”, Q’s malevolent nature came forth. Critically injured in a terrorist attack, Picard finds himself wavering between life and death with Q ready to greet him into the afterlife. Q’s very first words in the episode evoke a deadly threat: “You’re dead.” Q then takes Picard back to a similar near-fatal moment in his younger life, when he and two of his friends faced an assault from a group of Nausicaans. Writer Ronald D. Moore brilliantly sets up the premise for the entire episode within the first ten minutes: If Picard succeeds in changing history, he will live; if not, he will die. The end results are emotionally wrenching, giving us a radically different Picard in the process. While almost every television series puts their spin on IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, for Picard it’s not necessarily wonderful -- but the journey is for us, nonetheless.

Technobabble of a Different Kind:

This is not the first time that we’ve seen STAR TREK home video compilations along these lines. In years past we have been treated to various compilations from the different series, including the Data Collection, the Borg Collection, Starfleet’s Greatest Battles, the pilot episodes to the first four series, and the Starfleet Collections of the various films, to name a few. THE JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION marks the first collection of episodes spotlighting seven of Patrick Stewart’s most standout performances from his seven years on the series, and the first DVD product to complement any of the existing series on DVD.

Originally released on DVD in 2002 in the seven NEXT GENERATION season sets, the episodes represented in THE JEAN-LUC PICARD COLLECTION showcase some of Picard’s best moments on-screen and some of Patrick Stewart’s many abilities as an actor and master thespian. The seven episodes selected for this collection are “The Big Goodbye” from the series’ first season, Season 3’s “Sarek”, the fourth-season episodes “Family” and “The Drumhead”, the fifth-season episodes “Darmok” and “The Inner Light”, and Season 6’s “Tapestry”. All of these episodes are considered fan favorites among STAR TREK and NEXT GENERATION fans, as they showcase some of the best acting and storytelling to emerge from both Stewart’s repertoire and from the entire series’ cast and creative personnel. Spread out over two discs and similar in format to the NEXT GENERATION season DVD sets, each episode is presented in its original full frame format in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Surround with English subtitles and closed captions. Picture and sound quality is the same as on the season sets. Only the final feature in the set, the direct-to-video documentary FROM HERE TO INFINITY: THE ULTIMATE VOYAGE, is presented solely in Dolby 2.0 Surround.

Packaging and Menus:

This new 2-disc set comes in a nice Digipak case that, as opposed to the NEXT GENERATION season DVDs from 2002, is very easy and maneuverable. Once you remove the slipcover from the package, one of the panels of the package features brief synopses of the included programs. As you open the package, you are also treated to a personnel file on Jean-Luc Picard and a summary of his Starfleet career highlights. The discs themselves are displayed rather nicely and sturdily as well, with colorful artwork of the NEXT GENERATION logo, Stewart, and title, broadcast date, and stardate information on each of the included episodes.

The menus on the each disc, however, leave a bit to be desired. Once you cue up either disc, you are given a series of selection menus resembling the Enterprise’s LCARS computer screens, allowing you to access individual episodes, chapter searches, audio and subtitle functions for each program. These menu screens were designed to fit in with the menu schemes for the NEXT GENERATION season DVDs, so in a sense this new offering is following suit. However, each of the seven season sets had much more colorful interactivity and set-up processes to them, highlighting different parts of the Enterprise. Here, it just jumps into the menu selection. This is a bit of a drawback, recalling the days of the first STAR TREK DVDs, specifically INSURRECTION. While easily maneuverable, Paramount could have improved on this somewhat.

The Extra:

Only one extra rounds out this set, and that is the direct-to-video documentary FROM HERE TO INFINITY: THE ULTIMATE VOYAGE, narrated by Stewart. Running over 42 minutes in length, Stewart takes viewers on a journey through the Milky Way galaxy to the merest fractions of the unexplored universe and beyond. Combining computer-generated imagery, NASA photographs, visual effects used in NEXT GENERATION, and classical music ranging from Holst to Debussy, FROM HERE TO INFINITY provides viewers with an interesting insight into what our galaxy may hold. While we may never see such wonders in our lifetime, through journeys such as these we can certainly speculate.

Final Thoughts:

The price is very affordable for this first STAR TREK specialty product on DVD. But therein lies the caveat: Is it worth picking up? For those who are unfamiliar with STAR TREK or THE NEXT GENERATION, for those who are casual fans of Patrick Stewart and his career, or for those who are fans of the series and may not be able to afford shelling out $500-$700 for the entire series, then this set is for you. It’s a nice sampler product that serves its function well as a good starter set to the series. For those fans who have collected the entire series, however, they may view it as a waste of money just to get a new documentary on DVD. The quality presentation of each program, the documentary, and the price are good selling points for the right buyer, however.

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